The Clique
by Call-Me-Crazy.Cuz I Am
Summary: Korina Anderson should be dead, but she isn't. Richard Grayson should probably be in a mental institution, but he's not. Instead, they're in the same Clique in the Jump City Nest, where those with the Titan chemical fight evil. Only, between battles in lunchrooms, make-out session on piles of dirty laundry,and kidnappings, it's getting harder and harder to focus on the true enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. This idea was bothering me…so here it is. **

_**Korina**_

Grinding metal on metal, screeches tearing through the silence, and sparks igniting the dark blanket covering the sprawling city.

A car crash like this one hadn't been seen in Jump City since 1984, but yet, there it was, blocking two lanes and belching smoke.

It was an eyesore if there ever was one.

Wailing ambulances pull up to the site, hauling Mindie, Koma, and Islo off, leaving only me, crumpled, in the front seat of the totaled BMW, drifting in and out of consciousness.

I don't know why they'd left me. Sure, I might not have been as badly hurt as Koma or Mindie, but I still needed medical attention.

I'm not sure how long I've been lying here, pinned underneath the rubble, finally knowing how it felt to be forgotten.

_**Rachel **_

"We can't just leave her there, Richard!" I cry as he revs up the R-Cycle, the sleek bike roaring to life.

"What are we supposed to do, Rache? Take her back to The Nest? Hide her there for the rest of her life?" Richard's voice is dangerously cold. "The rest of her life that could be for the next ten seconds?"

"I'm telling you, I saw something. We need to go back and check on her!"

"The answer is no." His voice is firm, but I can hear the doubt underneath the solidity. "Now get on the bike."

"No." I shake my head. "I'm not going with you."

"Rachel, stop pitching a fit and get on the freaking bike before I strap you on it myself." He growls.

I lean forward so my hair covers my mouth. "You owe me. Now go back."

His face blanches and then settles into his all-too familiar scowl. "If we get picked up by the police, or the Hive, I swear to God I'm going to crucify you."

"Dully noted." I grin, swinging my leg over the side of the bike.

When we get back to the site of the crash, Richard parks across the street, and I jump off while the motorcycles still hot.

"Bag?" I say, thrusting my hand out behind me.

"What am I, your concierge?" Richard grumbles, but he passes the worn purple backpack to me and follows me as I run across the street.

She's still there, pinned beneath the wreckage of the ruined car. I'm surprised they missed her, because the clouds of curls surrounding her scratched, pale face are such a vibrant red, they should be a dead give-away.

Richard whistles behind me. "They screwed this one up bad."

"No comments unless they're helpful," I snap. Tearing open the zipper of the bag, I pull out a small canister filled with dark powder and two pairs of sunglasses. Sprinkling some of the powder on each lens, I wait until the bubbling stops before handing a pair to Richard and keeping one for myself.

"Now look at her." I smirk, self-satisfied.

She still has the striking red hair, and the cuts layered all on her arms, chest, legs, and face, but through the lenses, I can see them starting to heal, which is crazy, even for a scientific miracle.

The car crash couldn't have occurred more than an hour ago, and yet her wounds are almost fully healed?

"Scanner," I bark.

"Manners, young one," Richard snipes, tossing the shiny stick to me.

I run it along her ribs, assessing the amount of damage done internally, and my eyes widen.

"Richard, call Vic and tell him to get that precious car of his over here. We need to get back to the lab and run her through some things."

"What, you mean the lab at the Nest?"

"No, Einstein, the lab on the Washington State Monument. Yes, the lab at the Nest!"

"We can't take her back to the Nest! She's human! People will be looking for her!"

I turn an icy glare on him. "Did I phrase that like it was up for discussion?"

_**Korina **_

"_C'mon, Kori," Islo laughs as he dangles the flower above my head from where he sits in the maple tree.  
_

"_I need that, Is!" I pout, crossing my arms. "Give it back?" _

"_The Great Korina Anderson, asking a favor from me, the lowly Islo?" His island-tanned skin wrinkled as he laughed. _

"_Please, Is," I say. "Give it back to me?" _

_And then, Islo becomes Koma, sitting in the tree and holding the flower. "You have to find us, first, Kori. Find Iona Mayweather. Find the Queen of Half Ways….hurry, now, or he'll get angry. And be warned-when he is angry, evil, evil things happen." _

"_Koma?" I say, frightened. _

"_Find help with the bees, Korina." She says as she slowly fades away. "And stay away from the night." _

My eyes flash open, and I scream.

A blond boy, my age, I would think bolts up, his blue eyes still faded with sleep. "Whaa?"

"GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, IF YOU HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO HER, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL BURN YOU ALIVE!" Someone bellows from next door. I hear footsteps echo down the hallway.

"Jesus Christ," The boy says, clutching his heart. "You scared the crap out of me."

I fight the urge to smile and look around. I'm lying on a steel table in the middle of a nerdy scientist's fantasy, with gadgets and machines all humming and whirring away. A Smart Board stands in the corner, and an entire wall is covered with tables and shelves full of Mac Airbooks. Monitors blink, and the whole place is spotless.

I open my mouth, but Blondie shakes his head. "No talking-Rachel said. Oh, you're going to love Rachel. She's smart and funny in a sarcastic way and really, really, really beautiful, and she can be really mean, but she's only mean to me because-"

"Because you talk non-stop?" The door slides open and a slender girl steps in. She shakes her head, and a long curly black ponytail whips around. "Hello. I'm Rachel, and that grass-stain is Gar, age 16. I hope he's not the reason you screamed?"

So this is Rachel. I can see why Gar thought she was beautiful, and I've got to admit, I thought so, too.

"Don't answer that," She says sternly when I open mouth. "You're to let me do the talking."

I nod, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

"Go get Richard, Vic, and Terra." Rachel tells Gar.

"Okay. RICHARD! VIC! TERRA! RACHEL WANTS YOU IN THE LAB, ASAP!" He bellows.

Rachel glares at him. "You know that's not what I meant, cretin."

"Ah, but it accomplishes the same goal." He grins impishly, and then pulls a bag of sour worms out of his pocket.

"No eating in the lab!" Rachel cries, making a swipe for the candy.

But before she can, he turns into a bluebird and flies to the top of the cabinet, the candy clutched firmly in his talons. When he turns back into a human, he has a smirk on his face.

My jaw drops open.

"Thanks, Gar." Rachel seethes. "I told you, no powers until I explain everything to her. Now she _really_ can't ever leave."

My eyes widen. _Can't ever leave? What?_

Shaking her head, Rachel moves over to me just as three people enter the room.

"Korina, this is Vic, 18-" She points to a large kid wearing a jeans and a hoodie that covers his entire face. "Terra 16- " A tiny, dainty, sliver of a girl, with wide blue eyes and golden hair. "And the big boss himself, Richard, age 16." A tall, wiry, handsome boy with shockingly clear blue eyes and night black hair.

Night black.

_Stay away from the night. _

"Now that introductions are out of the way," Rachel says briskly, "We can get to the point."

Turning to me, she takes a deep breath. "Korina, you're dead."

_**Richard **_

Classy, Rachel, I think as I watch Korina's eyes grow to the size of golf balls.

She shakes her head, those endless red curls glistening in the light from the huge windows.

"You're not _dead_ dead. But you should be." Pointing to one of the monitors she adores so much, Rachel brings up a picture of Korina's skull. "I analyzed the kind of crash it was and the damage you sustained. And the thing was, the car flipped twice, landing in the middle of Interstate 50. This should have fractured your skull beyond repair, broken your spine, and damaged all of your ribs. And it did."

_C'mon, Rache,_ I think._ Get to the point already._

"But you…for lack of a better term, healed yourself. Not only is that scientifically impossible, it was interesting enough for me to put you in, again, for lack of a better term, a medically induced coma, and run some more tests."

"And?" I prompt.

"Patience is a virtue, Richie." Rachel grins when I scowl at being called Richie. "But anyway, the test showed that you have a special chemical in your blood stream. You ready for the shocker?"

She nods, and I'm struck, suddenly, by how large and sparkly her green eyes are. And then I think of Kitten, waiting for me down the hall, and I shiver, all thoughts of Korina gone.

"Everyone in the Nest has this chemical, including everyone in this room. When I first discovered it, I dubbed it Titan. This chemical causes certain….side affects, which are unique to every person, depending on how much you have. Gar, for example, has an uncommonly high amount of Titan in his bloodstream, which is why he can change shapes." Gar turns into a bald eagle, just to demonstrate, and those emerald eyes in her face widen again.

"Coincidentally, Richard, Gar, and I all have the same level of Titan in our blood. We were the highest level, at 74%….until we found you."

Turning to her monster computers, Rachel brings up another slide. "Korina Anderson, 95% of your bloodstream is Titan. That's the highest level ever heard of."

She's _ ninety-five percent Titan?___

That's insane. I've listened to enough of Rachel's lectures to know that she shouldn't be able to house that much Titan without burning up. Literally, spontaneously combusting.

"As an interesting side note, the only people this chemical presents itself in are between the ages of 13 and 19. After the twentieth birthday, it transforms itself into another chemical. The side effects don't disappear, only lessen."

I watch her carefully, wondering what she'll do next.

She points to her throat.

"Yes, you can talk," Rachel nods.

"So, you guys are all Teen Titans?" is the first thing I hear her say.

_**Rachel **_

I quickly glance up to the cabinet, where Gar has turned back into a human. The laughter is still in his eyes, and he grins when he sees me looking. I fight the urge to blush, knowing he's thinking of the day he came up with that nickname…and everything else that had happened between us that day.

"Um, yeah, that's what we call ourselves," Richard says, his voice devoid of emotion.

I groan internally. The last thing I need right now is for Richard to become a rock on me.

Richard goes all granite when he's turned on, for some reason, and seeing my older brother bang the new girl isn't something I'm looking forward to. The way Kitten crawls after him is already bad enough.

But he's Richard. I know him better than anyone.

And I also know that if he wants Korina, he'll get her, one way or another.

"So what is the Nest?" She asks, her green eyes sparkling. "And can I sit up?"

"Sure. Sit up all you want." Richard smirks. "God, I forgot how clueless you newbies are."

I want to stop him right there, since Korina's technically my patient, so he's overstepping his bounds by letting her sit up, but she beats me to it.

"Look, Mr. I'm-Sexy-And-I-Know-It, just because I'm new doesn't make me an idiot. And last time I checked, Monster Brain Rachel over there was the doctor, not you." She turns to me. "_Can_ I sit up?"

I don't even try to suppress my grin at the look on Richard's face. "Yes, you can."

"The Nest is the building you're currently in. It houses every Titan in the country, and some from other places. It's sort of like a headquarters, a safe haven." Terra says quietly, and my face burns up. Everyone in our Nest knows that she and Gar are practically sworn to each other. So what am I doing, feeling like this about him?

"A lot of times, Titans get mistreated or abused in their homes before they find us." Richard says in his monotone.

Richard and I both watch her carefully, to see if she was one. When she flinches and tenses, I can tell I'm right: she's been abused, wherever she came from.

"The Nest is a safe place where we can use our powers, learn how to harness them, find other Titans to be with…."Gar quotes the manifesto in a singsong voice.

"Each Nest is split up into Cliques." Terra continues, her high clear voice laced with the soothing quality Gar loves.

My voice doesn't have it, ironically.

"Your Clique is the group of people you room with, eat with, hang with, talk with, and solve crime with." Gar continues. "You can hang out with anyone in the Nest, but those are the people who become your family first."

"Who's in your Clique?" She asks, swinging her legs, over the table.

_How did she get those legs so long and _tanned_? Good God, _Richard thinks. His thoughts press in on my own, and I sigh. Normally I can tune everyone out, but thoughts of impressive strength break through my mental wall.

"Richard, Kitten, Vic, Jason, Flash, Jessi, Rachel, Terra, Adam, me, and you." Gar says, eating the last gummy worm and jumping off of the cabinet.

"I'm in the Clique?" Korina says. "Why?"

"Our eleventh person just died." Richard says bluntly. "For some reason, the death toll's highest in our Clique."

_Way to get her pumped up for joining, Richie, _I think.

She winces again. "Okay. Where's Koma?"

"What?" Terra asks.

"Koma, my sister. She and Islo and Mindie, they were in the car, too. Where are they?"

"Korina…"I start, dread in my stomach.

"It's just Kori." She mutters.

"Koma, and Islo, and Mindie, they….they didn't make it. The news story is al over the television, especially because they think you've gone missing."

"They're dead?" She asks slowly.

"I'm sorry."

A green fire lights those sparkling eyes, and huge beams of light spit from them and burn holes in the gray tile.

Our collective jaws hit the floor.

She looks up guiltily. "Oops?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. Hi! **

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed or followed- i.e., guest, jaestar, girlonthemoon, gabylokita41, Garbrielus Prime, Kira48, and Summer Frost 13! **

_**Rachel**_

"Be careful!" I cry as Flash and Vic load the stretcher onto my examining table. "I don't want him dying before I can get a few tests in!"

"Wow, Rachel," Richard says slowly, eyeing me with that infuriating mix of humor and boredom. "You've really got to work on your value for human life."

"_Possibly,_ Richie dear. There's a _possibility_ that he's human," Korina says from where she sits, her legs crossed, on the gray tile.

"Exactly." I nod. "And I don't want him kicking the bucket before I can tell."

Turning towards the table, I get a good look at him. He's got black hair that curls around his ears, which are pointed and slanted like an elf's, and his eyelids are as thin as paper. I can actually see a luminous green light that I assume is his pupils behind them. He's thin, too thin, really, and he looks like he's been on the run.

But of course, Flash only notices one thing: "He's naked!"

"Wait, _what?_" Korina scrambles up, taking care not to look at the table. "You strip the kids down before you run your crazy mad scientist tests?"

"Of course I do," I say, confused. "I need full body scan, and clothes get in the way."

"And Richard and Gar and Terra and Vic and Flash, they all watch?"

"Well, Gar doesn't usually- he gets squeamish. And Flash is always somewhere with Jessi. But Richard and Vic and Terra, yeah."

Her voice rises an octave. "_But not me, right?"_

Richard smirks, giving her the answer.

Two green bolts of plasma energy circle around her hands. "They all saw me…"

"Where'd you go to get that tattoo?" Richard grins. "You know, the one on the inside of your left thi-"

The handfuls of energy shoot out, burning two holes in the cabinet to match the ones on the tile.

"Well, that's just great," I mutter.

_**Flash **_

Rache is all business as she hooks up Mystery Dude to about twenty machines and starts taking notes.

"Alright, guys, I think I've got something." She says excitedly. She points to one monitor. "See that line?"

"The wiggly one?" Terra says, coming in silently.

"No, the straight one." Rachel won't look at her, and it isn't hard to tell why.

Only an idiot can't see that Rachel's seriously crushing on Gar. And only a bigger idiot couldn't see how much he likes her back.

So, for such a genius kid, Rachel's earned her idiot badge like three times over.

"It's supposed to represent his heart pattern, so I can monitor it." Rachel goes on. "But it's flat."

"He's dead, then?" Vic says, leaning on the cabinets.

"No, he's not. Just like Korina here, he should be, but he isn't."

"Kori." She quips. "My name is Kori."

"How much Titan does he have?" Richard asks, bored, and sending a shifty half grin Korina's way.

"25%." Rachel sighs. "It's too low for it to be the reason he's still alive. Korina's the only Titan we have that can save herself from death like that, and she's 95%."

I cough. "95%? She's _ninety-five percent Titan?"_

"Why is that always the reaction?" she smiles.

"Because you shouldn't be able to handle that much of the chemical!"

"So I've heard." I hear a trace of Richard's patent boredom in her voice.

"Anyway," Rachel says pointedly. "I ran another scan and….he doesn't have a heart."

"What, did he not donate to that commercial about the dogs or something?" I smirk.

"No, imbecile," Rachel glares. "I mean he really doesn't have a heart. Where it should be, there's a metal canister."

"So how is he alive, then, Abby?" Vic says.

"This is not NCIS, Victor Stone!" Rachel shrieks. "I don't have all the goddamn answers!"

"Funny, you sure as hell act like it," Richard stretches.

A row of glass beakers shatter, sending shards all over the floor.

"What the hell?" Korina says, covering her head.

"When Rach is pissy, things tend to shatter." I explain.

"God, guys!" Rachel glares. "Do you think the government just throws funding at me? Is that it?"

_**Richard **_

"If you would be so kind," Rachel seethes. "I'd like to finish this so I can get you all out of here!"

Turning back to her monitors, she jabs her finger at one.

"I think that, under the right simulation, this metal canister could potentially control his mind and vital functions. I also believe that if we can simulate it enough, we can wake him up."

"Then do it?" I say, raising an eyebrow and avoiding Korina's glare.

Rachel jabs a button, and the kid twitches, his arms flailing and his legs moving up and down.

A metallic, robotic voice comes from his mouth, but his eyes remain closed. "_You cannot beat that which you do not understand."_

"Is?" Korina says her hair floating as she jerks her head up.

"_Watch her, little Titans. She can save you or destroy you. The most of you will be the savior of all of you, if she chooses. The liar, the dreamer, the most and the least, the hider, the finder, shall find what you seek. But be warned little Titans- go astray and you'll find, that the answer you seek will be gone, lost, forever in time. Find help with the bees, little Titans. Find help with the bees." _

"IS!" She cries again, standing up and moving towards the thing on the table.

I grab her arms as she runs. "It's not him, Korina. It's not….Islo."

Her eyes look dead now, so far away from their normal sparkle. "_You cannot beat that which you do not understand." _

_**Korina **_

I wander among corridors in a daze, not really knowing where I was, sort of like I was in a half-dreaming state. Rachel tried to get someone to follow me, to make sure I didn't go crazy and try to hurt myself, but at this point, I'd be good if I never saw another Titan again.

"Kori?" a strong female voice with a soft lilt says.

So much for never seeing another Titan.

"If you're here because of Rachel, you can go." I snap, refusing to turn around. "I don't need to be babysat."

"Good, because I've never been good at that. Are you going to look at me, or are you going to sit in a corner and pout like a little bi-" I spin around, taking in the speaker.

She's thin, wearing a simple black sundress.

But her skin is a light gray color, her tumbling hair is a shocking pink, the same color of her eyes, her eyes that are shaped like a cat's.

Still, she radiates power and ruthlessness, and as she gazes deep into my eyes, I can tell that this is not someone I want to have beef with.

"Jennifer Jessamine Hex." She says, taking a step closer. "But I'd prefer if you called me by my codename. Jinx."

I cough. "Two things. A) We get codenames? And B) Are you…_the_ Jinx?"

"Yes, we get codenames." She laughs. "Richard's Robin, Rachel's Raven, Gar's Beast Boy, Flash's real name is Wally West, Vic's Cyborg…names have power, especially when you're going up against some crazy villains. You'll get to choose yours. And if you mean the former leader of the Hive Five, then yes, I am _the_ Jinx."

"I thought the Titans were supposed to be against you all? I mean, the Hive Five is the most successful young Mafia group in the USA. And you were leading it!"

"I left." Jinx shrugs. "Mind if I join you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really, no." Jinx sits down, her legs stretching out among the dark corridor. I reluctantly join her. "You know what corridor this is?"

"The east one, I think."

Jinx exhales. "Good. It's around dinnertime, and Vic, the resident technological genius, somehow hooked up the surveillance cameras to the big screens in the cafeteria. Whenever someone walks in, whatever they say or do is broadcast to the entire lunchroom. Where it's mandatory for everyone to be at this time."

"That must suck. Why aren't you there if it's mandatory?"

"Because I don't give a damn about Richard Grayson's rules." Jinx chuckles again.

"I'm guessing you don't like him?"

"You could say that. If you're willing to listen, there's quite the story behind it."

"I've got nothing better to do." I nudge her shoulder. "Spill."

"This isn't the only Nest in the world, Kori. There's one in every country. Some don't get used, but the ones that do, they have to be checked on by the leading Clique in the leading Nest. And since this is the leading Nest, we've got the leading Clique, which happens to be Richard's. With me so far?"

"Yeah."

"Good. So, when they go visit these other Nests, they always leave Flash behind, in charge of the entire Nest."

"That must be fun."

"Oh, it is. People beg him to try to usurp Richard as Nest Leader, but he won't. Anyway, one of these times, Richard and the rest of the Clique, they leave and they put Flash in charge. But while they're gone, Flash's Clique gets an assignment, and since he's the only one left, he has to do it by himself. You wanna guess what this assignment was?"

"Stop the Hive Five?"

"Smart daffodil. Anyway, we're robbing a museum, and he comes to try and stop us, and….he gave me a rose. I crushed it and swore that I'd get revenge. So, I lured him back to the museum. We captured him, but we didn't know he could vibrate his molecules through solid molecules."

"He can do that?"

"Yeah. He's got super speed, agiligity, endurance, strength, super-charged brain, and epic hand-to-hand combat and a bunch of other cool things, besides. But anyway, he could've left anytime. But he stayed. He stayed and he talked to me. He told me I was too good for the Hive, that I could become so much more if I let him help me, if I left evil behind."

"So you left?"

"No. I gave him to Madam Rouge."

"The female head of the Jump City crime scene?"

"The very same. She was going to use his Titan Communicator to track down the Nest and ruin us. But she made a very fatal mistake."

"Which was?"

"She insulted me. I came, freed Flash. He left me a rose before he ran back to the Nest. And that was it. But I always thought about how he said that I could do so much better. And then, I had to go to Paris for an assignment. When I got back, the Hive Five told me that Rouge had a Titan she wanted us to grab. So, we went and followed her until she came out of a movie theater with this guy."

"Who was it?"

Jinx sighs. "It was you, Kori. You and Islo. I saw you two together, happy and laughing and…I saw him kiss you. And then, that night, I left. I found Flash and asked him to take me back to the Nest. I was done with evil."

"How'd you know I was a Titan?"

"Rouge has ways of identifying Titans before they've gone through Rachel's tests. I've tried to tell Richard, but he won't listen to me."

"Why not?" I ask.

"I'm getting there. So, Flash brings me back to the Nest, and we…" Jinx blushes.

I gasp. "YOU DID NOT BANG FLASH!"

"Quiet!" She hisses. "If anybody finds out…."

"Oh. My. God. Jennifer. Jessamine. Hex!"

"It's _Jinx_. And _anyway_, afterwards, once his Clique comes back, he tries to get me into the Nest as a Titan. But Richard won't let Rachel test me."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, I've got to give you some background info. The oldest Nest is in northern Canada. It formed around the time of the Salem Witch Trials."

"Yeah?"

"Well, my little daffodil, most of these 'witches' are actually Titans. Nobody knows why they can do what they do, so the obvious reaction is to call them witches and kill them. The Nest in Canada was for refuges coming from Salem and other towns like it. And then, when slaves started escaping the south, they headed up to The Nest, because for some reason, a lot of slaves had the Titan chemical. With me?"

"Uh-huh. Slaves, witches, all in the Canadian Nest."

"So with all of these people, they had to create some kind of way of reassuring that everyone would be taken care of. So they came up with the Golden Rule of the Nest, the one that every Nest every where follows: If a person comes pleading sanctuary, and they are any part at all Titan, the Leader of the leading Clique has to put them in a Clique and give them every right the others have."

I nod my head, anger and disgust towards Richard filling me. "So he wouldn't let Rachel test you because if it turned out you were Titan, he'd have to let you stay."

"Exactly. It was the biggest fight he and Flash have ever had. Before I came along, they were like brothers, and now they can't even look at each other. But Flash won and Rachel tested me."

"How much?"

"This is confidential, but 97%."

"I thought I was the highest, and I'm only 95%?"

"That's what Rachel tells everyone. Right after she finishes, she looks me in the eyes and says, you're 97%. If you want, I'll tell everyone that you're 65. I'll protect you."

"She said this in front of everyone?"

"No. Rachel's…well, she can read minds. She's also able to do astral projection,

Demon transformation, Levitation, Telekinesis, Teleportation, Above-average physical condition, experienced hand-to-hand combatant, Multilingualism, Empathy, Empathic healing, Stopping time, the whole nine yards. Anyway, I told her to lie, to tell everyone that I was only 63% and not 97. So she did. But somehow Richard figured it out. The first time I used my hex bolts on him, here at the Nest, I could tell that he knew. And he hated me for it. He couldn't believe that I'd given up evil-he still thinks I'm some kind of spy. And in return, I hate him for trying to keep me from being what I was destined to be, for never giving me a chance, for always trying to end me and Flash."

"Yeah, how long have you two been together?" I ask, grinning mischievously.

"Three years, six months, and 12 and a half days."

"You've being banging Flash for three years!"

Jinx and I both laugh, and then I point at the window. "It's a beautiful sunset."

Jinx freezes. "Oh, shit."

"What?"

"The sun sets in the west. We're in the west corridor. The cameras."

My eyes widen. "You don't mean everybody just heard..?"

"Yes, I do." Jinx darts up. "We're screwed."


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N. Thanks to jaqui101, TheGirlWithTheCurls10, hey-wazzup-stalker, ReadAndWriteButMostlyRead, Warhammr, Starfire1997 for following, jaqui101, and Starfire1997 for favoriting, and teentitansluver, JessRobStar, hey-wazup-stalker, Fangurlguest, and guest for reviewing! **

**This is an extremely long chapter, but I was in a write-y mood…. **

**So, then. **

**Tacos? **

_**Rachel **_

I squirm slightly as Gar twists, his body brushing mine, reaching for a napkin. His plate of tofu, refilled for the fifth time, is already half-demolished, and Terra's blue eyes widen as he rubs his stomach.

"See, I wonder what would happen if you tried some a these ribs, Veggie Boy. If you can demolish a plate a _tofu_-" Vic casts the tan squares a disapproving glare "Lord knows what you could do with some Carolina-"

"Well, Man-Without-A-Soul, I've actually been a cow before, while I was saving your meat-loving ass, so I prefer not to engage in cannibalism." Gar turns again, his hands brushing my chest as he pulls the napkin back.

I immediately blush and the table erupts into laughter.

"Slick." Richard shakes his head. "Real slick."

I notice that neither Jinx nor Flash are here, but I chalk it up to teenage lovemaking or something.

And then Vic's monster screens roar to life, and I groan inside.

Some poor sap is about to get embarrassed beyond belief, and I can't help feeling for it, seeing as I was that poor sap for a month or so.

But my sympathy goes on a deeper level when I see it's Jinx and….no, not Flash (although we've caught them in several compromising positions, trust me) but Korina.

My stomach sinks.

And keeps on sinking as Jinx pours out her heart, her story, her Titan percentage…..I think I'm going to puke.

Jinx talks about how she met Flash, why she gave up on evil, and what Richard did to her, and I honestly want to break the screens, because she doesn't deserve to have this happen, she honestly doesn't deserve for everyone to know about her nights with Flash, her feelings and her dreams. It's not right.

But what kills me is when she talks about how much more people appreciate Flash, and then she gives _names._

And Richard is getting stonier and stonier as she talks, until he's, for all intents and purposes, a block of marble.

And then, they realize that they're in the west corridor.

_**Korina **_

Jinx runs down the halls, pink hair flying, cursing all the way, with pink light I assume is her famous hex bolts forming around her hands.

"Jinx, wait a minute-" I say, trying in vain to follow her.

She whirls on me. "You don't get it, do you? _Everyone_ knows. They know about my past, about me and Flash, about the whole Richard shenanigan, everything! How am I going to look at my friends, at _Flash_?"

She runs all the way down to what I guess is the lunch hall, which is surprisingly silent as we enter.

It looks like a regular, albeit gigantic, lunchroom, excepting the walls of weapons and the huge screens hanging from the sky roof.

On those huge screens, I can just see Jinx and myself running down the hall before they go black.

_Aw, crap, _I think.

Gar clears his throat from where he sits in between Rachel and Terra. "Well, this is almost as awkward as that one time when we caught Argent and Kole talking boys in that corridor."

Vic turns and smacks the back of his head. "Shut up, fool."

_**Richard**_

I'm so angry my vision is literally as red as Korina's hair.

I clench my fists underneath the table as they walk in, heads turning as they slowly begin the walk of shame.

"Richie." Gar whispers.

"How many times do I have to freaking tell you, _do not call me Richie!_" I roar, slamming my hands on the table.

It snaps in half, sending Gar's tofu, Terra's salad, Vic's ribs, Rachel's minestrone soup, and my sandwich into a mosh pit, the jagged ends of the wooden table that's probably older than any of us combined collapsing

If they thought I was unhinged before….

I throw my chair backwards, and I can feel the fear radiating off of the tables.

"Richard. Calm down." Adam says slowly.

But it's laughable how far past_ Richard calm down_ I am right now.

I stalk towards them, noticing in my fury how Jinx stands protectively in front of her.

"Richard, stop." She says forcefully, the pink light in her eyes shining.

I've never told Jinx that the reason I hate her so much isn't that she was part of the Hive.

It's because I liked her before we ever left Flash on that mission, and now, she's stolen my best friend and a little bit of my heart.

Power is…attractive to me, and any bum of the street can tell Jinx is about the equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

Now she wants to take away even the possibility of a future that I might have with Kori?

Hell no.

"_Move."_ I hiss, grabbing Kori's wrist and dragging her toward the door.

"Let go of her." Jinx growls, orbs of pink light swirling around her clenched hands.

I can't think, I can't speak, all I can do is plunge a hand into my jean pocket and pull out a boomerang. I hurl it at her, and for a minute, a horrible minute, I know that it's a fatal throw, accurate as always.

For a second, I know it's going to slice her pale gray throat, and I will have even more innocent blood on my hands.

And then, in a blur of red hair and dark jeans, Kid Flash appears between us and grabs the boomerang a second before it hits her.

He looks from the missile to me to Jinx.

"Are you okay, love?" He says, brushing her throat with the tips of his tan fingers.

"I'm fine." She smiles.

"See, this is why you don't go to lunch without me. You've got no idea when some boomer-happy idiot is just going to try to slash your throat like some kind of psychopath, and if that keeps happening, I might get worried."

"I'm perfectly able to take care of myself, Flash."

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't worry."

Before she can reply, he picks her up bridal style and kisses her full on the mouth, in front of everyone.

And of course, the applause rings out through the cafeteria.

My closest friend since I started this damn nest. Kid Flash. Won't even look at me, or acknowledge my existence.

I realize I've still got Kori's wrist, so I drag her out of the spectacle and down the hallway to our Clique's quarters.

I pull her through the door and past Rachel's door until I reach mine. Shoving her through, I release her wrist and rip off my shirt.

I hear a small intake of breath as I search through my piles of clothing for a clean shirt.

My skin burns and I can feel my jeans sliding as I move, but I'm still too angry to speak.

_Richard wouldn't let Rachel test me. Richard didn't want to accept me. Richard's a low down, dirty, scumbag who will never, ever, ever be worthy of Korina. _

Wait a minute.

Where the hell did that come from?

She collapses onto my bed, which is littered with old magazines and soda cans and a few beer bottles (gotta get my kicks somehow).

I finally sink onto my floor and touch my forehead to the cold dark wood.

"What's up with the maps?" I hear her say.

"It's a map of all the Nests in the world." I mutter.

"Who's in the picture?" She says.

"My…my mother."

She doesn't ask why, and I love her for it.

Instead, she comes, and she lies by me, and she doesn't try to shy away from the piles of clothes.

"Poor, sweet baby." She murmurs. "All alone in the big old world." There's a twinkle in her eyes, but she doesn't smile.

At this point, I'm still angry enough to shoot someone, but looking into her eyes, I feel it transform, as it often does in horny teenage boys, into wanting to bang someone.

Normally, I'd think this through, consult the voices in my head, stare moodily at walls, listen to heavy metal, fall asleep with the pictures of my parents, and work out a little. take some time before I blew up on her.

But I need to calm down and my anger-ridden mind tells me that the best way to do so would be to get with a female.

And since the nearest female is laying across from me…

_Don't you dare, Richard John Grayson. _I hear the voice in my head say. _Don't you dare. _

_Since when do I listen to you? _ I tell it silently, and it falls silent.

I turn my head. "Charlie Brown?"

"Indeed." She smiles. "You've got a very comfortable pile going on here."

And because I have no idea how to respond to that, I kiss her.

_**Rachel**_

"So do you wanna pull Flash out of Jinx's bed, or should I?" Gar smiles. "It might take a while. We could go together, and I could tell you some jokes?"

"Good jokes?" I say skeptically.

"The very best." He grins. "Here, I'll start. What did the stunningly attractive changeling say to the beautiful, albeit tortured soul

I'm just about to be brave and take his hand, but then, as per to my luck….

The sirens go off.

All of a sudden, the sky roof erupts, and glass rains everywhere.

Dozens of figures explode from the gaping hole, and shots ring out as our disoriented Titans try to fight back.

I can see Jinx's bright pink hex bolts hitting the figures squarely in the chest, and Gar had turned into a T-Rex and is putting our poor lunch hall in a new circle of hell while he destroys the men.

I send a wave of black energy towards one, grabbing him and yanking him in front of me.

I plunge a mental knife into his mind, trying to divulge every bit of information I can.

When I'm done, I'm sick to my stomach.

I toss him into T-Rex Gar and reach for another.

_**Flash **_

I slam my fist into my attacker's sternum and while he's winded, use the back of my foot to flip him around so he lands on his back with a cracking sound.

Flashing to Gar, who is now a gorilla, side, I use a roundhouse kick to the head to disable the next one, slamming him into the wall just as Jinx comes crashing through said wall, pink bolts slamming into the chest of a man with a knife not a centimeter away from me.

I grin. "Thanks, babe. Couldn't let my pretty face be damaged, could you?"

"Since said pretty face is maybe your only redeemable quality, it would've been highly illogical for me to do so!" She calls back, slamming the back of her head into the nose of a man as she bends his fellow's leg back so hard it snaps.

_**Jinx **_

This is maybe the first time I've ever missed that damn Richie Rich and his boomerangs of death.

We're doing all we can, but we need him to help. As much as it pains me to admit, he's the best Titan we've got.

So why's he missing the big chance to show off?

I don't see Kori, either, which is strange because she should be here. It's her first time, her first battle with her Clique.

I see Rachel, surrounded in a cloud of dark energy even as Argent wreaks havoc and Bumblebee throws darts like a master, and I can see her running towards the emergency switches on the wall.

If she gets there, she can temporarily release a gas that immobilizes all but those who've got Titan.

Adam and Cy are buying her some time, what with Adam bursting pipes and sending sheets of high-pressure water crashing and Cyborg shooting things with his blasters.

I see Roy from on top of the archery cabinet, slamming arrows with stunning accuracy into the attackers.

And suddenly, a huge missile hits my head, somewhere, as I spin around, and the last thing I hear is Flash screaming my name.

_**Rachel **_

Gar's a saber tooth at the moment, and I can hear his yowls and the screams of his victims as he shreds them apart.

It's lovely, really, definitely the soundtrack I want for my sleep playlist.

And then I hear Kid Flash screaming his head off.

I toss the solider I've currently got into the nearest wall, but before I can run, Flash is standing next to me, carrying Jinx in his arms.

"Do something!" He barks frantically.

I take in the scene: Jinx lying limp in his arms, blood seeping from a gash near her temple, battles being waged, the Titans losing….

"I can't do anything here," I say. "We've got to get her to the lab."

"Let's go, then!" He says.

"Kid Flash, we can't just up and leave! Titans are dying out there, and they need our help!" I plead.

"Oh, so I'm just suppose to dump Jinx in a corner and go on fighting like a good little superhero? Fat chance."

I sigh and turn to try and reason with him.

And in the split second I do, I hear Gar's wounded c cry.

Aw, shit.

I spin around, and there he is, no longer a cat, just a smallish boy with scratches everywhere wincing in pain and gasping for breath on a pile of black-clothed bodies.

Time stops, for a minute.

And then Kid Flash flashes to his side and back. His super-strength and agility is obviously coming into play, because he's carrying me, Jinx, and Gar all the way back to my lab.

I pray to whatever God will listen to please save Jinx and Gar.

But as I quickly set up the tables and send Kid Flash back out to fight, I can hear Gar gasping for life and Jinx's blood is dripping on my tiles, and I can only think two things.

1) That this is going to take some serious miracle, and 2) That I'm going to kill Richard John Grayson, wherever the hell he is.

Because if I lose my best friend and my happiness in one sitting all because he couldn't show up when necessary….

All I'll have left would be my work, my Nest….and my revenge.

I quickly set up my monitors and pray, pray, pray that I'll be able to do something, anything at all.

And as I work, the image that keeps pumping through my mind is the same image that I stole from the mind of the man.

Korina Anderson, green bolts shooting and somehow suspended in the air, some kind of chains around her wrists.

They'd been coming for her.

Jinx and Gar, lying on my operation tables, their lives in limbo. Flash and Vic and Adam and Argent and Bumblebee and everyone else fighting a futile battle.

All for this girl who is absolutely nowhere to be found.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. Griffin: 'Ello, loves. Name's Griffin, Call-Me-Crazy-Cuz. I Am's British fantasy. I'm here to tell you that CMCCIA is sorry for never updating, and that she's going to be much, much better. **

**Jay-Jay and Izzy (CMCCIA's other fantasies -read: hallucinatin-): *Swoon* **

**Isaac (The final hallucination): *grumbles* CMCCIA wants to thank lonerinluv, RobstarForever2017, kimminightwing, heroesandheroines, diginerd, babtiger5360, McFoxy, doglover1234, WeFallTogether, kori and richard grayson, ffflight, AmethystPhantom, hey-wazup-stalker, guest, StarRob11, Fangurlguest, lilykoppsaya, and runbody2 for reviewing, favoriting, and following. **

**Griffin: Have a good time reading, yeah? **

**Jay-Jay and Izzy: *Swoon***

_**Jinx**_

_Fuck_ is the first thing I think.

Then it's _why the hell can't I open my eyes_ and, after that, it's _Kid Flash._ I try, but it feels like sand is coating the inside of my eyes, and opening them seems a hell of a lot too hard so I give up.

Huh. Giving up. Losing.

Seems like I've been doing that a lot lately.

_**Rachel**_

I can tell without looking that Jinx is healing herself, and I busy myself tinkling with the MacBook Pro in front of me because I don't want to think about how Gar can't heal himself. At least, the Titan won't do it for him. I walk over to Jinx's bed and brush a few strands of hair away from her face.

"Jinx?" I say softly, struggling to keep in control.

Her brow furrows slightly and her fists clench. "Kid Flash?"

"He's...he's fine." Actually, I don't know how Kid Flash is. He could be lying in a pool of blood or hulahooping with Richard or I don't even know. But Jinx needs to stay calm; I don't need her dashing off in search of her boyfriend before she's ready. I don't even tell her that her eyes have turned an opaque white color; instead, I turn around and type in my security code in the monitor, starting a scan.

"Rachel. Why can't I open my eyes?"

My blood runs cold. Her eyes _are_ open. "You can't see?"

"It's all dark." A note of panic appears in her voice. "Rachel, why the hell is it all dark?"

"Jinx, how many fingers am I holding up?" I say calmly, masking my inner panic. "Can you see that?"

I hold three fingers close to her eyes.

"Five?"

I stop the current scan and with a flurry of typing set up another one. This one will test her eyes, but I'm already pretty sure what it'll come back with.

"Jinx," I say carefully. "Don't panic, but I think you might be blind."

_**Vic**_

When I hear the shouting and shattering of glasses from Rachel's lab all the way in the cafeteria, I know I have to go break up a catfight.

Before the Titan showed up in my bloodstream and I came to the Nest, I was on the football team at school, and I saw plenty of chick fights. I was even the cause of a few. But in the Nest, catfights are more like lion/cheetah-Godzilla-vs.-Jaws-fights, and I don't think we need anymore trashed rooms right now.

KF comes along with me, and we walk in friendly silence until we reach Rachel's lab.

The door is flung open and hanging on its middle hinge, and shards of glass cover the floor like clear snow. Rachel's posters are hanging off of the wall and her monitors are all going crazy.

"WHADDAYA MEAN I'M BLIND?" Jinx bellows, pink hexes forming around her hands.

"What do you think I mean, genius?" Rachel says coldly, fury in her eyes. "Now get back on the freaking table!"

"How bout a no on that?" Jinx sneers. "I can't be blind! My Titan should've stopped it a-and I don't _do_ blind!"

"Oh, yes, because only Helen Keller _does_ blind," Rachel snaps back. "Now _get back on the table_ before you bust a gasket- or Gar's monitor."

"You know what I think?" Jinx rampages on. "I think _you_ made a_ mistake_."

I suck in a breath. That was the wrong thing to say.

Rachel's fists clench, unclench, and clench again. _"I never make mistakes."_ She says, low and deadly.

And the monitors flatline, the books fly off the shelves, and every single glass surface in the lab explodes into thousands of twinkling shards.

_**Kid Flash**_

Well, folks, Rachel's finally flipped a shit.

It had to happen, eventually; Rachel doesn't have the most _I'll-suck-it-up-and-deal-with-it_ personality in the world, and with all the stupid shit that goes on in the Nest, she was bound to blow eventually.

And when I say _blow_, I mean_ literally blow_ all of the freakin' glass in the lab to Cuba.

_"Look what you made me do."_ Rachel says, her voice still low and scary as hell.

"Before you continue with your apeshit rampage," Vic interjects quickly, "I think you should know that Gar's covered in glass right now."

Rachel does a 360 turn so she's facing Gar's table and swears quickly and harshly. Stalking over to him, she uses a wave of black energy to swipe the glass off of him, adding it to the pile on the floor. She tucks a hand into her hair and sighs. "Well, now I don't have any equipment, Gar's life support is down the drain, and you're _still_ blind, Jinx. Feel any better?"

Jinx presses a hand to her mouth and turns her head into my shoulder. I can feel her hot tears through my shirt, and all I want to do is hold her.

Sounds of skidding feet rushing down the hallway stop Rachel from continuing on us, but when Kori appears in the doorway, she flips yet _another_ shit and goes crazy.

Kori is immediately encased in black energy, and I can tell by her shocked and hurt face that it hurts like hell.

_"Who are you?"_ Rachel says, as close to yelling as she ever comes.

"Wha- Rachel?"

"I know they were coming for you!" Rachel slams Kori up against the nearest wall. "Why are you _so important?_"

_"I don't know!"_ Kori's eyes are wild and dazed.

_"Wrong answer."_ Rachel seethes.

And with one final throw, Kori's eyes roll back in her head, Richard runs into the room, and shit hits the fan.

_**Kori**_

_I am in chains, and I am angry. _

_The Gordainians follow me everywhere- they mock me and they touch me and they fill me with insatiable rage. _

_There is a woman who comes, sometimes. Her eyes are flinty blue and she speaks in a language I do not understand. She wears a short red tunic and has black hair cut sharply. _

_I wish to yank it out. _

_I wish to scream, I wish to wreak havoc on these animals. _

_And then, my world goes dark and cold and all I remember is the woman's laugh and the hatred and bitterness I feel. _

**A.N. Griffin: Review for me, loves? **

**Jay-Jay and Izzy: REVIEW FOR THE SEXY BRITISH BOY!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N. Hi! Thanks so much for all the love last chapter got :D Griffin says hi -very sexily- if anyone's interested. **

**Thanks to Lubally, starprincess313, jlewis14, sparky1201, robstar591, Randiceluvr26, pearldrops, NSeventySix, lunarmidnightwolf, Tabbykatroses, LucilleL, Starfire, Fangurlguest, Jaqui101, and lilykoppsaya for following, reviewing, and favoriting! **

_**Kori**_

When I wake up, I am disoriented and confused. I lay on some sort of...bed. My vision is blurry, but it slowly focuses, and as it does, I see a boy, sitting in the chair next to my bed. His hair is dark, and through his half-closed eyelids, I can see piercing blue eyes. Panic bubbles in me, because the woman had the same coloration, and if she is here then I am doomed. Quietly, carefully, I raise myself into a sitting position, but I am not quiet enough. His blue eyes snap open and the corner of his mouth raises slightly. I do not know what the expression is called, but it makes his face much more pleasant, and I very nearly relax.

When he speaks to me, all I hear is gibberish. Annoyance flows through me, as well as resignment to the fact that lip contact will be nessecary. Ignorance is a luxury I cannot afford.

I lean forward, brushing red hair out of my eyes, and press my lips harshly to his. Knowledge immediately enters my system, and I snap my head back as soon as I am satisfied with my learnings.

"Well," the boy says, again doing the funny lip thing. "That's one way to say good morning."

In seconds, I leap out of the bed and pin him to the wall behind me, my hand closing around his neck in a chokehold.

"Yes," I bare my teeth fearsomely. "And this is another."

_**Rachel **_

When Gar's hand begins to grow colder than mine, I know that the end is near, and I think _'fuck it'_ and cry unashamedly. I honestly don't give a damn what Terra thinks or whether or not it's appropriate. Right now, it's just me and my Grasstain.

"Hey, Gar," I sniff slightly, nudging a piece of glass with my toe. "You're not going to be okay, so I won't tell you that. But you won't be alone. I'm here, and Vic, and KF and Terra and Adam and Rich-where the hell is Richard?" I hiss, turning to Vic when I realize he isn't there.

"He's uh, he's with Kori." Vic refuses to look at me, and I can't blame him, because I'm so furious my eyes would probably burn holes in anything they looked upon.

"Oh, is he now?" I push myself out of my chair and stalk down the hallway towards Kori's room. "He won't be for long."

And I don't know how right I am until I fling open the door and see Kori, fury ablaze in her eyes, choking my foster-brother to death.

A high-pitched scream tears itself from my throat, much to my chagrin, and when she snaps her head to look at me I only have two seconds to think _'I'm going to have to kill her'_ before she attacks.

_**Vic **_

It's the second time in one day I've had to rush to a room because of screaming and I'm getting tired of it. When KF and I finally made it to that room, though, I had like two seconds to think about what could be going on behind that door and what the hell I could do about it.

But when I finally dash in, it is nothing like anything I imagined.

Kori is hovering near the ceiling, her eyes and hands lit with green plasma energy. Richard is rubbing at his neck and wiping blood off of his face, and Rachel has three bolts of dark energy aimed directly at Kori.

"_Ho-ly_ shit." KF whispers, and all l can do is nod.

And then Rachel slams her with all three bolts of energy and she's out like a baby.

_**Kid Flash **_

If there is anything stranger than Rachel crying, it's Rachel pacing. She just doesn't do either of them on a regular basis, so the fact that she's doing both now is really quite odd.

"Okay." She breathes heavily, harshly. "Okay, okay, okay. We have t-minus 75 seconds until she wakes up with a vengeance, so we need a plan now."

"Take her back wherever she came from." Terra says coldly. "Leave her there. She won't find us again."

"We can't leave her anywhere and we can't kick her out." Rachel says firmly. "She's one of us now."

"No, she isn't." Terra hisses. "Did you forget that she's the reason Gar's here? Or are you too much of a robot to care?"

Two pink spots appear on Rachel's gray cheeks. "I assure you I care about Gar, maybe even too much. And, Terra, did you forget that now that we know she has Titan, we can't let her leave without risking total exposure? Or that she already knows way too much about us, our codenames, and our weak spots? Or that she has nowhere to go back to?" She steps closer to Terra. "Her family is dead, Terra. Where's she gonna go if we abandon her?"

Terra shrugs. "So kill her. Problem solved."

"_Problem sol-_" She begins incredulously, no doubt preparing to break every glass surface in the goddamn Nest.

And then Kory's eyelids fly open.

Her eyes are red-rimmed and piercing green, and the sheer amours of anger and guilt and sadness in them very nearly knocks me off my feet. The look seems achingly familiar to me, though, and I can't figure out why.

She pulls at the bands of metal encircling her wrists and her feet a couple times, but they hold, so she eventually gives up, settling for glaring at all of us.

Rachel gets to the point. "Who the hell are you?"

She clears her throat. "I am Koriand'r." Her voice is soft and it would be sweet if not for the edge of steel inside of it.

"Okay, Koriand'r." Rachel glares straight back at her. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't report you to the government or simply end you myself."

Her eyes flicker back and forth between Richard and Rachel, lingering slightly on Richard. "I have information you will find useful. I am a valuable resource for knowledge about your enemy...and about yourselves." Her gaze becomes piercing and I'm suddenly hella-uncomfortable. "And," she continues, her gaze falling on Gar's limp form. "I can do the healing for your comrade."

"You can heal Gar?" Rachel says, intensity written across her face.

"I can. Where I am from, it is imperative that all know how to do the healing. Injuries appear regularly, most worse than his, and we have no..." She gestures at Rachel's broken monitors and MacBooks.

"And where exactly are you from?" Terra snaps. Richard gives her a steely look, but she keeps right on glaring.

Koriand'r flushes slightly and looks away. "You would not do the believing if I told you the truth."

"Try us." Rachel says coldly.

"There is some knowledge which should be kept secret," Koriand'r mutters.

"But not this. Tell us where you came from, why you're here, and why you're so different from Kori. Now."

Koriand'r actually laughs at this, a move that shows she has some balls, at least. "I am so different from Kori? I am Kori. Kori is me."

"What?" Vic asks bluntly.

Koriand'r smiles. "When I did the traveling here, my essence was...spread is the closest word in your language. From the spreading, the part of me that makes up Kori was made...dominant? I was still there, but..." She struggles for words. "I was locked in? Kept underneath..."

"A prisoner." Richard whispers slightly.

Kory smiles sadly. "I have always been the prisoner. The only thing that has done the changing is my prison and my guards."

"Explain while you heal Gar." Rachel strides forward and moves Koriand'r's bed forward until she's right next to Gar.

"I will need my hands," a small frown appears in between her eyes. Rachel wordlessly unlocks the restraints.

_**Richard **_

Korinand'r moves closer to Gar, placing her hands gently on his bare stomach. "Kori….as I said, Kori is me. I am Kori. She…she embodies all of the…qualities? that I needed to survive during my…captivity."

"Captivity?" I ask slowly. _What the hell does she mean, captivity?_

"Where I am from…" She shakes her head. "I am…valuable? Slave-traders, vagabonds, they…conquered my world. They took me, they planned to trade me to your…government. In exchange for technology."

"Stop trying to beat around the bush. Out with it." Rachel snaps. "Who are you really and where did you come from?"

Anger appears in Koriand'r's eyes. "I am the warrior-princess Koriand'r from the planet Tamaran. And I was captured and sold as a 'product' to your world."

"Hold the hell up." Vic butts in, disbelief written all over his face. "You some kind of alien?"

"I do not know what the 'alien' is, but I am not from your world." Green light begins to appear from under Koriand'r's hands, bringing out even more the intense paleness of Gar's skin.

"And these slave-traders, they brought you here from…Tamaran?"

"They have been doing such for years." Anger creeps into her voice. "While under their captivity, I had to remain…solid. My essence was already scattered, and the…the traits I needed were awakened. The other me was born."

"What do you mean, 'The Other Me'?" As I say this, I watch color slowly begin to creep back into Gar's skin. _Amazing. _

Her green eyes are even more piercing now, and they remind me of my mother's.

"I mean that….these traders, the Gordanians, they were not gentle with me. I was…touched and abused and…" She shivers slightly. "I needed solidity. In that moment, I needed to be everything Kori is. Brave. Smart. Fearless. Bold. Strong. Stubborn. I created…a separate identity, one who had all of those traits, and nothing more. One that could withstand what I couldn't. Kori was born."

"So Kori's like your alter-ego? She's…inside of you?"

Koriand'r's eyes flash. "Kori is not a separate being. She is me. We are each other. She lives inside of me now, slumbering, but she is still there. In moments when I need to be…strong, she will reappear."

"Hold on, are we _believing_ this bullshit?" Terra snarls. "You think that our government would put in an order for a bunch of creepy aliens? Or that she has some kind of multiple-personality disorder? Koriand'r's feeding us all lies."

"Starfire." Koriand'r says suddenly, glaring at Terra. "In your language, my name is Starfire."

Terra throws up her hands and stalks away.

"Why were we attacked?" Rachel says harshly. "Why did they do this?"

"They want me back." Koriand'r -Starfire, I mentally tell myself- says quietly. "On my planet, all have the ability to fly and shoot the starbolts, but few have the capacity that I do. They do not want to lose me."

"They sound like jealous ex-boyfriends," Kid Flash mutters, and I almost laugh.

Almost.

Rachel fixes Kid Flash with a piercing glare. "Not the time, KF. Not the time."

"I'm just saying, they sound hella-clingy. I mean, dude. Give the girl some space. Ease off her."

Right before Rachel explodes something all over the top of Kid Flash's head, Gar takes a gasping, shuttering breath, and bolts up.

"Woah, cool!" He beams brightly, looking around at all of us, and for the third time today, Rachel bursts into tears.

**A.N. Okay, so I feel like a bit of explanation is in order. **

**In this fanverse, the Gordanians attacked Tamaran with the intention of grabbing as many "special" Tamaranians -i.e., Tamaranians with the Titan chemical- as possible and selling them all as slaves, servants, soldiers, ect., to as many foreign planets and governments that would take them. Starfire was one of these Tamaranians. They treated these Tamaranians TERRIBLY, so badly that Starfire-Starfire wouldnt've been able to stay sane and in control. So, essentially, she created a separate identity which had all of the qualities nessecary for her to survive. That's Korina. Because of that, Korina-Starfire got sold to earth, not Starfire-Starfire. Korina-Starfire was given "false memories" -using Gordanian tech- in order to ensure that she would be able to survive on Earth, and she was randomly implanted in Jump City, far away from the rest of her kind. Technically, Korina-Starfire didn't exist before the car crash. The government pretended she did, and got the media to cover it up like she did, but it wasn't true. Koma, Islo, and Mindie were never in the car with her; others who shall remain nameless at this point in the story were. However, when Rachel slammed her against the wall like a badass, the resulting impact shocked her brain enough to bring back Starfire-Starfire. However, if Starfire-Starfire were ever in a situation that she couldn't handle again, or was ever just overwhelmed, Korina-Starfire would come back. **

**As a side note, the whole Starfire-Starfire and Korina-Starfire thing works like this: Let's say someone had a glass of wine and they poured it into a basin of water. The wine isn't gone, it's just diluted. When Starfire-Starfire is in control, Korina-Starfire is the glass of wine. She's still there, but she's muted, sleeping, if you will, and Starfire-Starfire calls the shots. When Korina-Starfire is in control, the opposite is true. **

**I hope I didn't make anybody's brain explode, because I was rereading this chapter and I couldn't help but think that it was on that Jerry Springer swag. :D **

**Review? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. Hey! **

**Thanks to ShikaNaru, Al-497, when-time-stops, AmandaLee31, starprincess313. kori and richard grayspn, Tabykatroses, Someone, and fangurlguest for reviewing, following, and favoriting! **

**Uhm...**

**Yeah. **

**Onward!**

_**Rachel**_

It's funny, really, how easily things settle back into some semblance of normality.

I stop crying -at least not when anyone but Gar can see me- and I bully Richard into replacing my lab. Jinx still whines about her sight, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore. Kid Flash and Richard still ignore/annoy each other, and Vic goes back to playing peacemaker for fights that _don't_ end in near-death.

There's only two differences, to be honest, but they're big ones.

The first is that Gar is awake and back and _green._

A couple chemicals in Starfire's blood messed around with Gar's molecular structure, and the result was that Gar's skin is now green. Not green-tinted, but green. And his eyes and hair, which were previously yellow and blue, respectively, are now dark-chocolate brown. All of the animals he shifts into share this coloration, which I guess is a prime example of irony. I bring him in for check-ups at least once a day, which he never grumbles about, even though _I_ remind myself a little of a very clingy girlfriend.

He's quieter now, and he doesn't laugh as much. He's less happy, less excited about every little thing, and he doesn't try to sneak candy into my lab, but he's here and alive and I can deal with everything else as long as he stays that way.

The second is Starfire.

She's a crapload different than Korina, and she shows it everyday.

She practically attaches herself to Richard almost immediately, which would be funny if he wasn't attracted to her. And on the first day I let her out of the lab unsedated, she floats into the cafeteria –yes, floats. Apparently walking is something only for Earthlings- and beams brightly, clutching Richard's hand and squealing about everything.

_Friend Richard, what is this delightful yellow substance?_

_Friend Richard, why is there a barrier between you and the sky?_

_Friend Richard! Look! Is the silver contraption not marvelous?_

I'm not sure where all of this _'friend'_ business came from, and I don't think I want to, but what I do want to know is who the impostor pretending to be my foster-brother is and what happened to the real Richard John Grayson. Because sullen, I'm-so-hardcore-I-hate-the-world, moody, aggressive Richard would surely refuse to put up with this.

_Surely._

_**Richard**_

I wish I could say she coerced me into it. I wish I could say I was mindtricked. I wish I could say I only did it to be nice.

But I can't.

Honestly, the only reason I'm taking a friggin' _alien_ on a joyride across Jump City is because I want to, and I can't say no to those goddamn eyes.

The R-Cycle purrs as I make a sudden stop in front of a row of quaint shops. Starfire squeals at the swerving and clenches her thighs to my hipbones.

Goddamn aliens and their lack of personal space qualms and their _stupid_ long legs.

"Friend Richard!" She breathes into my ear, her voice sweet and excited. "That was most enjoyable! Could we partake in this activity again?"

_Mind out of the gutter, Richard,_ I remind myself._ Don't go there._

The metal is hot beneath me as I swing off, and when I help Starfire down I can see the sheen of sweat I left. It's crazy because it's barely 80 degrees out, but all that…friction…works wonders on bodily functions.

'First thing's first," I say firmly. "We're getting you some new clothes."

She looks down at the old black jumper she begged off of Jinx and shrugs. "I do not think this is necessary, Friend Richard. I am perfectly capable in this clothing. Why is it aggravating you?"

Maybe because when you dress like Korina I think you're Korina and I don't really know how to deal with that. Maybe it's because Jinx gave that to you and I don't want any part of you to remind me of her.

Maybe it's because I'm a _guy_, and if you keep dressing like that I'll really start to act like it.

What I settle for is a shrug and a simple "It's just not you."

She snorts and tosses that scarlet hair. "You do not know me."

I smirk at her and hold the door open as she enters the shop. "I plan on changing that fast."

_**Gar**_

I stand in front of the mirror, frowning slightly, and flexing the muscles in my arms and chest.

I'm getting taller, I think, and I'm definitely more muscular.

But I'm friggin' _green._

It's not like I have anything against the color green; I actually like it, when it's not on my _skin._ _I look like a broccoli stalk,_ I think, and I flop down on the bed and bury my head in my pillow.

Rachel comes in a moment later, while my head is still in my Superman pillowcase, and she uses her no-nonsense voice when she tells me she wants to run another test.

"Why?" I say into my pillow. "You've already tested me for everything that has ever existed."

"Because I need to know what other affects Starfire's blood might've had on you, and I can't do that with you sulking like a child in your bedroom. And anyway, isn't tonight Guy's Night?"

Tonight_ is_ Guy's Night, but with Kid Flash probably making out with Jinx somewhere, Richard padding after Star like some kind of golden retriever, and Jason long gone, it'd just be me and Vic, and I'm not feeling like it anyway.

I can feel Rachel's presence at the edges of my brain, and I'm too tired to try and explain myself to her, so I let her in.

She's gentle, she always is, but man, there's something weird about having another person in your head, in your body. Sort of like an invasion, and I have to think hard and remind myself that I want her there, that I really like Rachel and I know she wouldn't-

_Oh. Crap._

See, the problem with having someone in your head, even if it's not malicious, is that they see everything. I once asked Rachel what it was like and she told me to imagine sitting on the very shore of an ocean and having wave after wave fall on you, crashing on your head and soaking you in salt. It's like that, only it's waves of thoughts and emotions and crap and you have to sort through it all until you find what you're looking for.

Still it's not like Rachel doesn't know I like her, so I'm not losing anything, not really. It's just invasive.

Rachel pulls out of my mind and stares at me for a long moment.

And then she very seriously says, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with being green. Kermit the Frog was green."

"Kermit is a frog, and because he was green Ms. Piggy was obsessed with him. Is that the kind of life you want for me, Rachel?"

She throws a pillow at my head and gets up to leave. "Come see me in the lab before you and the boys pillage the Mancave, okay?"

"Okay." I say, and when she leaves I get up and look in the mirror again.

I'm still friggin' _green._

I pick up the nearest hard object (a picture frame of me, Vic, Richard, KF, and Jason) and chuck it at the mirror as hard as I can.

It shatters and shards coat my floor, and in them I see thousands of twinkling green reflections.

**_Rachel _**

I'm cleaning up a few of my beakers when I hear the intake of breath and I know I'm not alone in my lab.

"Gar," I say even though I know it's not him. He probably feels too awkward after this afternoon. I adopt a sweet, sugary tone. "Gar, _sweetie_, what are you doing here?"

"_Sweetie_?" A low, chocolate-velvet voice says, amusement evident in every syllable. "So you guys have _that_ kind of relationship."

"Jason." I exhale. I turn around and he's there, leaning against one of my operation tables, still as easily confident as he was three years ago.

His hair is still golden and perfectly mussed. His eyes are still brown and warm, with flecks of gold and sparkles of laughter. He still stands lazily, as if he has all the time in the world for anything he could ever wish to do.

"In the flesh," He smirks slightly. "After all, the great ones always return."

_**Richard **_

Starfire is floating down the hallway excitedly, and despite some serious reservations on my part, I can't help but being excited with her.

I don't know her, but her easy enjoyment of literally everything in front of her is contagious, and suddenly I don't see the world as such a hellhole.

"Friend Richard!" She calls behind her, green eyes sparkling. "Please do the hurrying! I wish to show Friend Rachel the clothing we did the purchasing of!"

"I don't think Rachel'll enjoy that, Star," I say carefully. It's a dramatic understatement, because Rachel blames Star for the attack, and she doesn't trust her at all. The animosity is palpable, and it's worse than the I'm-so-hardcore-I-hate-the-world thing she normally has going on. It's real hatred, and Rachel doesn't hate a lot of people.

"Why not?" Star's eyes go wide and innocent. "Does Friend Rachel not like me?"

We're in front of Rachel's lab now, so I decide I'll just let it play out. "No, Star, Rachel loves you." _You lying scumbag, Richard._ "In fact, why don't we go in right now and show your clothes to her?"

She nods enthusiastically and pushes the door open, making me squint in the bright flood of artificial lighting and very nearly hitting Jason Todd in the face.

"Oh!" She cries, mortified. "Oh, I am so very sorry. Please do the forgiving for me!"

Jason laughs, all charm and charisma. "Nothing to forgive, Dollface. Absolutely_ nothing."_ Taking her hand, he plants a kiss on the back of it. "I'm Jason."

Star blushes bright red and Rachel groans.

I chuck a bird-a-rang at him.

He catches it about a second before it hits his throat, and he tuts lightly. "Richard, darling, you really gotta work on your arm, your aim is crap."

"Is it?" I growl. "Keeping talking and you can be my practice board."

"Oh, Richie, not in front of the ladies," Jason says condescendingly. "C'mon. Good Old Dad taught us better than that."

"You two are…brothers?" Star asks somewhat timidly.

Jason turns to her, and I can see his eyes drinking her in, drinking in that stupid, _unbelievably_ sexy jumper Jinx gave her, and maybe it's me, but I'm pretty sure his eyes darken.

"No, Dollface," He says quietly. "Dick over there stopped being my brother a long time ago."

"_You_ left _us_," Rachel hisses at him, black energy beginning to swirl around her fists. "Not the other way around."

"Don't tell me you never got tired of living in his insane shadow." Jason sneers. "The dude's _crazy_ and he's still a legend."

"I'm not _crazy_." I clinch my fists and get in his face. "And it's not my fault I'm better than you, Jason. Get over it. Stop acting like a little girl."

He moves inhumanly fast, even for one with the chemical, so fast I know his speed's been tampered with. He pins me against the wall. "You've always been crazy, Richie. Ever since Dear Old Dad found you in the alley and brought you home, you've been unhinged." He leans close until our noses almost touch, until I can see the hatred in his eyes. "You screamed when you slept and you whispered when you talked and for all the world you were a broken little boy. _'Make the dreams go away, Daddy. Make them leave me alone, make me forget who I am and what happened to me.'_" He mimics my eight-year-old voice cruelly. "And the sad thing is, you're still that broken little boy. You're no stronger. No more equipped to deal with life. No, Richie, all that's different is that you've got bigger toy soldiers to hide behind." He releases me forcefully, sending me sliding down the wall.

He's all charm when he turns back to Rachel and Star, but I know none of us will forget _that_ Jason. He says I'm broken, but he's just as bad.

"Why'd you leave, Jason?" Rachel asks, anger in her eyes. "You helped us _build_ this place. You were one of us. Why'd you leave, and why are you back?"

"Rachel, sweetie, I left because this place was too good for me." Jason shakes his head patronizingly. "I like a little _danger_, a little uncertainty every now and then. But I always gotta be where the action's happening, and right now? That's here."

"Because of_ her_?" Rachel points at Star.

"Because of _all_ of you." Jason grabs his knapsack off of the floor, a black leather thing with a red **X** on it. "The pieces are coming together, Rachel, just like Dear Old Dad always told us they would." As he walks out, he looks back. "I assume I'll be staying in my old room, yes?"

"It's Starfire's room now," Rachel growls.

"That's okay," Jason grins back at her. "I don't mind sharing."

**A.N. You should review. Reviewing is good. You should get on that. **

**REVIEW?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N. Hey, you guys! **

**Things have been pretty crazy for the last couple weeks, and I kinda wasn't sure where exactly I wanted to take this chapter -SEVEN REWRITES, KIDDOES, SEVEN- but I'm on a good path now, so the next few ones should be coming out pretty soon! **

**Thanks to Quirkista, jcyrose, mely0801, Guest, kk, Tabbykatroses, Amandalee31, jaqui101, Someone, Robstarforever2017, Someone, and Al-497 for reviewing! **

**Extra thanks to Someone for suggesting the idea which totally refueled my writing tank :D **

**ONWARD!**

_**Rachel**_

The Nest is built like this:

Each Clique has a wing, a collection of rooms for its members. In the middle of each wing, there's a common room of sorts, and there's hallways leading to each room.

I'm in one of these hallways now, and the sheer tension and testosterone levels are giving me a headache.

"Absolutely not." Richard growls, crossing his arms and standing in front of Starfire's door. "Hell will freeze over before I let you move in with her."

"Richie, Richie," Jason tuts and drops his bag on the floor. "Jealousy's not a good look for you."

"I don't have a problem with this," I interject. Richard fixes me with a steely glare, but I stare back solidly. "She's about as innocent as Joseph; it's not like they're gonna do anything."

"First off, you would not _believe_ the things I've caught Joe and Kole doing, okay? And second, you don't know that. All it takes is for dickhead over here," He spares an angry look at Jason's nonchalant face. "To make one wrong move and suddenly we've got Korina back and she's blasting him through walls with starbolts! Do _you_ want to explain to the government why we need even more funding?"

He's got a point, but I'm tired and angry and late for Gar's appointment, so I snap. "Why do you _care_? It's not like you don't chuck a bird-a-rang at anything that pisses you off! And anyway, you were drooling over Korina 24/7! You should be overjoyed she might be coming back! Aren't you tired of having a sha-" I break off when I see a blush rising on Richard's cheeks and it hits me.

"Oh, no." I spit. "Tell me you're not crushing on the frikkin' alien."

His mouth opens and closes like a goldfish.

Jason raises his eyebrows. "This is awkward..."

"Why?" I rub my temples. "Why on _earth_ are you fanboying over the alien?"

"Don't call her that!" Richard snaps. "It's not like I'm professing love or anything. I just think she's cool."

"Maybe I missed the part where we took a field trip back to 3rd grade, but since when are aliens cool? She's not from our plant, Richard! She's not from our friggin'_ solar system,_ for godsakes!"

Richard gets in my face, leaving the door behind him unprotected. "Why do you hate her so much, Rachel? You were fine when she was Korina!"

"Because Korina knew how to handle herself!" I yank my hands through my hair. "Starfire is a _liability_, Richard! She has no self-preservation instinct, no hardness, no anger. She's gonna get eaten alive!"

"Don't you think that's what we need?" Richard yells back. "A person in this Nest that isn't hardened by life and cruelty and the things we do here? She's been through hell, Rach, and she can still see color and light and everything beautiful in the world! Why can't you see that?"

That's it. As KF would say, I flip a $/ / $:$.

"MAYBE BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE STARS IN MY EYES WHENEVER I LOOK AT HER!" I screech at him. "MAYBE BECAUSE SHE'S THE REASON THEY CAME HERE, THE REASON MY BEST FRIEND IS BLIND AND THE ONLY PERSON IN THIS ENTIRE NEST WHO MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS WORTH SOMETHING ALMOST DIED!" I breath out hard through my nose. "Maybe because I watched Gar bleed and break and nearly die. Maybe because I saw everything I've ever wanted, everything I've ever built threatened."

Richard stares at me, and then a look of understanding flickers in his eyes. "Tell me you're not crushing on the changeling."

I flush deep red, and it's enough to answer his question. I ignore his smug look and Jason's incredulous one. "The point is, Richard, she's not one of us, she'll never be one of us, and she brought hell unto us in the form of alien _slavetraders_ and government officials."

"She has the chemical. She is one of us, and you can't make her leave."

"Oh, I'm not going to make her leave. But I'm not going to pretend like I want her here, either, and I'm not going to pretend she's really apart of the Nest."

I whirl around and begin stalking down the hallway, but there, smackdab in the middle, is Starfire, with a vacant look in her eyes, and next to her is Gar.

_**Richard**_

Forces are battling in Starfire's eyes when I run up to her and place my hands on her shoulders. "Star? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

When she doesn't respond, I turn to Gar and ask him how much they heard.

He starts rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and looks anywhere but at Rachel. "Um, we came look for Rachel and started listening around 'Because Korina knew how to handle herself'? She started doing the weird eye-thingy near the end, though."

I look at her again and she's still standing stock-still, eyes cloudy and clear at the same time.

"Well?" I turn to Rachel angrily. "Do something!"

"I can't, and even if I could I wouldn't." She says flatly. "We have no idea what her body responds to, what could cause her lasting damage."

"If I could interject," Jason says quickly as the situation escalates. "Are you saying there's...two people in her? Like split-personality disorder or something?"

I start to answer, but I'm interrupted.

"More like multiple-personality disorder," Korina says. "Only more attractive."

I turn around slowly, and I inwardly wince when I see that the innocence, the eagerness, the things that made her Starfire, are gone from her eyes.

Instead, she's Korina, and she's pissed off.

"I'm back, bitches."

_**Gar**_

In a weird way, it's actually really good luck that the sirens go off, because if they hadn't I honestly don't know what would've happened. The tension in that hallway was palpable, like Gannondorf-vs.-Link style, and I think Richard was about to explode.

The screeching sound cuts through the drama like a knife and sends Rachel spiraling into action.

"It's our turn?" She asks Richard sharply, pulling out her sleek black Pagax and tapping at it furiously.

"Yep," Richard sighs, "Conor took the last one."

Rachel growls slightly and shoves the Pagax back in her pocket. "You and you," she points at me and Richard, "Meet me outside in t-minus ten minutes or swear I'll knock both of your heads against walls and we'll see who else has an alien alter-ego."

"You can't be serious," Richard says incredouslusy. "You're not seriously thinking about-"

"Did I phrase that like it was up for discussion?" Rachel snarls.

_**Korina**_

"So," the guy behind me says conversationally as I stress-relieve by ripping through my closet, "I feel like we should get acquainted."

I pull out a pair of bright blue shorts and ask, "Do these look flammable?"

"Um, yeah?" He shrugs. "I missed the fashion boat. Apparently, God thought I was already too perfect."

"Hmm," I mutter, uninterested. "So you're one of _those_ guys?"

"What guys?"

"The guys like Richie-Rich. The ones that think they're God's gift to the world."

He laughs. "That kid gets all the breaks. The dude's crazy and he's still a legend."

I'm overcome with an intense sense of déjà vu. _He's said that before, I think._ _He's said that before._

The really sucky part about being a split-personality babe is that I don't really know what happened while the _other_ chick was was in charge. It's like waking up from a dream: maybe you remember the big points, but even those are blurry, and on the whole the dream is just one big gray mass.

The parts that stick out: finding out about...pretty much everything, healing Gar, the beginning of shopping with Richard.

The parts that I couldn't recall for my life: everything else.

But that voice, that phrase...I remember it.

_"You've always been crazy, Richie. Ever since Dear Old Dad found you in the alley and brought you home, you've been screamed when you slept and you whispered when you talked and for all the world you were a broken little boy. 'Make the dreams go away, Daddy. Make them leave me alone, make me forget who I am and what happened to me.'And the sad thing is, you're still that broken little boy. You're no stronger. No more equipped to deal with life. No, Richie, all that's different is that you've got bigger toy soldiers to hide behind." _

"Hey," he says, jolting me out of my thoughts, and his brow is actually furrowed a bit with worry. "I know I'm sexy, but seriously, this is a bit much. Richard will never forgive me if you die on my watch."

I look at him, really look, and I see the hints of concern in his green eyes, the slight brown tints in his messy blond hair, and _damn he's hot._

"I'm fine, boy-without-a-name, so calm your tits." I shake the sexy-dude induced haze off and squeal when I find, in a bag of new clothes, the perfect kick-butt outfit.

"My titular regions are perfectly calm, I assure you," he says snappily. "And my name is Jason."

"Hm. Jason. Like the Greek hero."

"Yeah," he says, "But I don't think I'm much of a hero. And I've never even read those myths."

"You haven't read about your namesake? Jason and the Golden Fleece? Jason and the Argonauts? The Cyclops?"

"I haven't read any of those."

"I'll have to give you a Jason-education if we're gonna live together."

"What's the point? It's not like his actions are gonna affect me or change me. I'm a selfish, arrogant jerk and I'm okay with that.I told you, I'm no hero."

I fall silent and halfheartedly nudge the pile of clothes. "What you do here, that's heroic," I say awkwardly. "Stopping crime and all that. Must drive the girls crazy."

"I don't do anything here. Not anymore." He sighs. "I left a long time ago. It's why they left me here with you; they don't trust either of us."

"What do you mean, left us here?" I ask slowly.

"What did you think those sirens meant? They were signaling a mission. Rachel's Pagax confirms it. They're out there, doing the heroic thing."

"They left me?" I growl. "They screwed me out of my first mission?"

Jason whistles, "Oh, hell, this is your first one? I'm sorry, doll, I thought you were more experienced than that."

"And just when I was starting to like you." I roll my eyes and toss a pair of pants on his head angrily. "Who the hell _does_ that? Do they boot everyone out of their first mission?"

"Um, no," Jason ducks as another article of clothing comes his way. "Or else they'd never get anything done. No, sweetheart, you're special."

"Bastards!" I seethe, throwing a black heel at Jason's face. "Who the hell _does_ that?!"

"I think you've already said that, dollface, and easy with the throwing. You might damage the merchandise."

"The fact that you are comfortable referring to yourself as merchandise greatly concerns me." I say snootily, reaching for another shoe to throw. My hand lands on a platform knee-high purple boot, and when I look at it I get a crazy, crazy, perfect idea.

"You have a car, yes?" I ask Jason excitedly.

"I have a motorcycle," he warily replies.

"Can you hack into Rachel's pager thing?"

"The Pagax? 'Course I can."

"Then get your superhero gear on," I smirk slightly. "Cause we're crashing that party."

**A.N. Rereading this chapter, I feel like a bit of explanation is in order. **

**Rachel is being supremely pissy, I'm not going to lie, but to be fair, it's technically Korina-Starfire's fault that the Nest got attacked and that everything that ensued because of that went down. She's looking for someone besides herself to blame, and Korina-Starfire is the perfect target. **

**Jason and Korina-Starfire are definitely attracted to each other, while Richard and Starfire-Starfire have a thing as well. Remember that, because it's coming back. **

**Jason is a mystrey. I'm trying not to write anything from his perspective or Starfire's, because I don't think that I could do Starfire good, honestly, and Jason has SOOOO many secrets I don't even know how to not reveal them when looking into his thoughts. **

**So, Korina-Starfire and Jason are gonna go crash the bad-guy-busting thing, which is SUPER...INTERESTING :D, so review, and you'll see it quicker*winkwink*. **

**REVIEW**


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